Hall of Fame inducts five who have done what needs doing

They come from all walks of life, but Friday night, they came together for one purpose — to be honored for their work and their contributions to the community.

These five women — Diane Lee (Dee) Aker, Lorraine Boyce, Rachael Ortiz, Deborah Szekely and Sonia Lopez — were inducted Friday into the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame at a ceremony at Liberty Station in Point Loma.

They join a long list of women who have been recognized, since 2002, for their accomplishments — a list that includes the likes of philanthropist Joan Kroc and restaurateur Ingrid Croce, politician Donna Frye and astronaut Sally Ride.

“The Women’s Hall of Fame was designed to acknowledge and honor the unsung heroes — women who do the work but don’t get the recognition they deserve,” said Ashley Gardner, executive director of the Women’s Museum of California, which co-hosted the event with the Commission on the Status of Women, San Diego State University Department of Women’s Studies and the Women’s Center, University of California San Diego.

“These are the women who see that things need to be done and just do it,” Gardner said. “They’re an inspiration to all of us, especially the younger generation.”

One of the evening’s honorees — Aker, interim director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego — said she was “profoundly moved” by being hailed as a “trailblazer” but quickly added: “They say I’m a trailblazer, but I’m not. I’m just a storyteller going under the bushes to find stories.”

One of the programs she founded at USD brings female survivors from other countries to San Diego to tell their stories.

“This is a tremendous honor,” Aker said, “but I hope that the women who’ve shared their stories feel that they, too, received this honor. This is theirs.”

For inductee Lopez, who was honored as a “cultural guardian,” being named into the Women’s Hall of Fame was something she never envisioned for herself.

“I feel very humbled to be recognized,” said Lopez, who inaugurated a women’s studies class in San Diego State University’s Mexican-American studies department that she helped create.

“All this goes back to 1968 when I first arrived at SDSU as a student and became active in the Chicano student movement and the women’s movement. ... Who knew that all that would transform this very shy and quiet farm girl into a feminist, an activist?” Lopez said.

She added: “But our work is not done. All you have to is turn on the TV to see that there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Attendee Alyssa Brooke-Gay, 26, praised the inductees and the efforts to honor them.

“Oftentimes, the kinds of work that women do are devalued or unappreciated,” said Brooke-Gay, a graduate student in women’s studies at SDSU. “This gives us an opportunity to recognize women who have done things to better the community.”

For North Park resident Geraldine Adams, the evening was a step in the right direction.

“I think it’s wonderful that these women are being honored,” Adams, 74, said. “They have done great things, but let’s not forget that there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.”